Di's Visit Revives Stunned Air-crash Survivor

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND — Princess Diana visited a dumb-struck teen-age survivor of last week's Manchester air disaster Tuesday and the girl opened her eyes for the first time since the tragedy.

Diana and Prince Charles interrupted their Scottish vacation to visit nine hospitalized survivors of the Boeing 737 plane fire that killed 54 people last Thursday.

They stopped at the bedside of Lyndsey Elliott, 13, who lost her mother, aunt and uncle in the fire that was triggered by an engine explosion as the British Airtours jet streaked down a Manchester Airport runway at 110 mph.

The girl suffered shock and smoke inhalation when she escaped from the blazing jet along with 82 other survivors after the pilot aborted the takeoff. A hospital spokeswoman said that since the disaster, the despairing girl had refused to respond. But she opened her eyes for the first time when the royal couple stopped at her bedside and Diana talked to her.

''Until then she had not responded to anything. It was like she was rejecting the whole situation,'' said nursing officer Janet Edwards at Withenshawe Hospital.

Edwards said the girl had been badly injured in the accident and had been on a respirator, but her condition was now listed as improving.

A hospital spokeswoman said Princess Diana had heard about the girl and wanted to make a special effort to talk to her.

The girl called the visit by the royal couple lovely.

''Princess Diana was beautiful,'' she said.

During their visit to the hospitalized survivors, the Prince and Princess sat on the beds of patients and offered condolences.

''Charles asked how I was feeling and I told him I was fine now. I told him I planned to go on holiday and he said it was the best thing to do -- to fly again straightaway,'' said survivor Claire Bailey, 19.